coronavirus situation
Four areas of Gopalganj restricted for a week
To prevent the spread of coronavirus, the upazila administration has imposed restrictions in two municipalities and two unions of Gopalganj.
Gopalganj Deputy Commissioner (DC) Shahida Sultana issued a notice to this effect on Thursday afternoon.
The areas mentioned in notice were Gopalganj, Muksudpur municipality, Latifpur and Kashiani union.
Gopalganj Additional District Magistrate Shafiqul Islam said the restrictions would be implemented from June 18-24.
During this time all types of businesses-organizations, shops, shopping malls, kitchen markets and grocery stores in these areas were instructed to remain open from 8 am to 3 pm.
Restaurants could remain open until 10 pm, but people could only take away food parcels.
Hawkers were prohibited to set up stores on sidewalks and footpaths.
In addition, all types of tourist centers, resorts, community centers and entertainment centers would remain closed.
Public gatherings, such social events, political and religious ceremonies were restricted too.
However, transports were permitted to run following health guidelines.
Gopalganj Civil Surgeon Dr. Sujat Ahmed said due to the increase in Covid-19 infection rate, the district administration on Thursday was requested to impose restrictions in the risky areas. Accordingly, restrictions in those areas were imposed from Friday.
Sinopharm doses reach Sylhet, Sherpur, Chattogram
Some 37,200 doses of China-made Sinopharm vaccine arrived in Sylhet on Friday for resuming the second phase of the Covid-19 vaccination program.
Premananda Mandal, Civil Surgeon of Sylhet, received the vaccines on Friday morning.
The vaccines are stored at a temperature of 2 to 6 degrees centigrade in the EPI Cold Storage at the Civil Surgeon's Office.
Jahidul Islam Sumon, chief health officer of the Sylhet City Corporation in charge of vaccination activities in the Sylhet metropolitan area, said the vaccination program will start around 9-10 am on Saturday at Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital.
He said no instructions have been received so far for conducting vaccination at other centers in Sylhet.
On Saturday, the vaccination program will be inaugurated by vaccinating the students of Osmani Medical College.
Students would be vaccinated after showing voter ID cards or college ID cards, he added.
Also read: Pfizer, Sinopharm shots to start June 19: Health Minister
In Sunamganj, Civil Surgeon Dr Shamsuddin received six thousands doses of Sinopharm vaccine on Friday.
According to the government's policy, the vaccination program will be conducted at Sunamganj Sadar Hospital in the second phase from Saturday.
He further said the 6,000 doses will be given only in Sadar and if more vaccines arrive later, they will be given in every upazila.
Meanwhile in Sherpur, Civil Surgeon Dr AKM Anwarul Rauf received 12,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine the same day.
The vaccination drive in the district will also resume at Sherpur General Hospital from Saturday.
In Chattogram, 91,200 doses of the vaccine arrived in the third phase.
Chattogram District Civil Surgeon Sheikh Fazle Rabbi received the vaccines on Friday.
Also read: Second consignment of Sinopharm vaccine arrives
Vaccination drive may resume from Saturday or Sunday at Chattogram Medical College and Hospital (CMCH), if the government directs, said the Civil Surgeon.
This time there will be only one center for vaccination in every district except the capital Dhaka. The vaccination drive will be conducted at a medical college hospital in a district where there is a medical college hospital, and at a general hospital in a district where there is no medical college hospital.
Besides, health workers and police personnel, students of government and private medical and dental colleges, students of government nursing and midwifery, students of dormitory halls of government universities, officers and employees working on important national projects, expatriate workers, cleaners, those who engaged in burial of bodies and who were excluded from vaccination before and citizens of other countries who are working here will be vaccinated on a priority basis.
Meanwhile, on Friday afternoon, while exchanging views with local people's representatives at his residence in Garpara, Manikganj, Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Malek said the country has not yet fully started the vaccination drive.
The minister said, "We hope to get vaccinated soon. We will get the vaccine from China and Russia. We will also get vaccines from the agreement with India which have not been delivered yet."
He further said, "Immediately after vaccination a person is not protected, it takes a month."
Also read: Sinopharm begins shipment of its vaccine to Bangladesh
The health minister also said Delta variant has also spread in our country. Its transmission capacity is 50 percent higher.
"So, this is the time we have to follow the health protocols, we have to protect ourselves, we have to protect the family, we have to protect the country," he added.
The government halted administering the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on April 26 considering the dwindling stock of its jabs.
Also, registration for the Covid-19 vaccination remained suspended amid uncertainty over the availability of promised vaccine doses from India's Serum Institute.
However, the mass vaccination of Covid-19 is expected to resume in July next as the government is making all-out efforts to collect vaccines, said Principal Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus Thursday. "The government has allotted a fund of Tk14,000 crore for the procurement of vaccines as it’s an all-out effort to ensure Covid jabs for all."
The government has so far approved the emergency use of Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sinopharm (China), Sputnik-V (Russia), Pfizer-BioNTech (USA/Germany) and Crona Vac (China) vaccines.
Can you mix and match Covid-19 vaccines?
Can you mix and match two-dose COVID-19 vaccines?
It’s likely safe and effective, but researchers are still gathering data to be sure.
The authorized COVID-19 shots around the world are all designed to stimulate your immune system to produce virus-fighting antibodies, though the way they do so varies, noted Dr. Kate O’Brien, director of the World Health Organization’s vaccine unit.
“Based on the basic principles of how vaccines work, we do think that the mix-and-match regimens are going to work,” she said.
Also read: Why do some people get side effects after COVID-19 vaccines?
Scientists at Oxford University in the United Kingdom are testing combinations of the two-dose COVID-19 vaccines made by AstraZeneca, Moderna, Novavax and Pfizer-BioNTech. Smaller trials are also ongoing in Spain and Germany.
“We really just need to get the evidence in each of these (vaccine) combinations,” O’Brien said.
So far, limited data suggests an AstraZeneca shot followed by the Pfizer shot is safe and effective. The combination also appears to come with a slightly higher likelihood of temporary side effects like aches and chills.
That might be because mixing and matching different types of vaccines can often produce a stronger immune response, said Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.
Also read: How long does protection from COVID-19 vaccines last?
In some places, health officials already suggest mixing in select circumstances.
After the AstraZeneca vaccine was linked to extremely rare blood clots, many European countries including Germany, France and Spain recommended people who got it as a first dose get a Pfizer or Moderna shot as a second dose instead.
In Britain and Canada, officials say people should aim to get the same vaccine for their second dose if possible. If they got AstraZeneca as their first shot, they’re advised to get another vaccine only if they have a history of blood clots or other conditions that might put them at higher risk of clots.
Migrants listed in priority list for Covid-19 vaccine
Migrant workers bound for overseas destinations have been enlisted in priority list to get Covid-19 vaccine jabs.
The Department of Health issued a letter regarding the matter on Thursday.
Also read: International vaccine institute to be set up in Bangladesh: Hasina
Imran Ahmed, the minister of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment ministry has expressed satisfaction over the inclusion of expatriate workers in the list.
Also read: Bangladesh approves single-dose Janssen Covid-19 vaccine
A meeting was held yesterday between the relevant ministry and the health ministry to discuss the issue of vaccination of expatriate workers on priority basis. During the meeting, Health Minister Zahid Maleque assured that expatriate workers would be given vaccines on priority basis.
In poorest countries, surges worsen shortages of vaccines
Hati Maronjei once swore he would never get a COVID-19 shot, after a pastor warned that vaccines aren’t safe.
Now, four months after the first batch of vaccines arrived in Zimbabwe, the 44-year-old street hawker of electronic items is desperate for the shot he can’t get. Whenever he visits a clinic in the capital, Harare, he is told to try again the next day.
“I am getting frustrated and afraid,” he said. “I am always in crowded places, talking, selling to different people. I can’t lock myself in the house.”
A sense of dread is growing in some of the very poorest countries in the world as virus cases surge and more contagious variants take hold amid a crippling shortage of vaccine.
The crisis has alarmed public health officials along with the millions of unvaccinated, especially those who toil in the informal, off-the-books economy, live hand-to-mouth and pay cash in health emergencies. With intensive care units filling up in cities overwhelmed by the pandemic, severe disease can be a death sentence.
Africa is especially vulnerable. Its 1.3 billion people account for 18% of the world’s population, but the continent has received only 2% of all vaccine doses administered globally. And some African countries have yet to dispense a single shot.
Health experts and world leaders have repeatedly warned that even if rich nations immunize all their people, the pandemic will not be defeated if the virus is allowed to spread in countries starved of vaccine.
“We’ve said all through this pandemic that we are not safe unless we are all safe,” said John Nkengasong, a Cameroonian virologist who heads the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We are only as strong as the weakest link.”
Zimbabwe, which has imposed new lockdown measures because of a sharp rise in deaths and cases in the country of over 15 million people, has used just over a million of 1.7 million doses, blaming shortages in urban areas on logistical challenges.
Long lines form at centers such as Parirenyatwa Hospital, unlike months ago, when authorities were begging people to get vaccinated. Many are alarmed as winter sets in and the variant first identified in South Africa spreads in Harare, where young people crowd into betting houses, some with masks dangling from their chins and others without.
Also read: G-7 leaders agree on vaccines, China and taxing corporations
“Most people are not wearing masks. There is no social distancing. The only answer is a vaccine, but I can’t get it,” Maronjei said.
At the start of the pandemic, many deeply impoverished countries with weak health care systems appeared to have avoided the worst. That is changing.
“The sobering trajectory of surging cases should rouse everyone to urgent action,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, Africa director of the World Health Organization. “Public health measures must be scaled up fast to find, test, isolate and care for patients, and to quickly trace and isolate their contacts.”
New cases on the continent rose by nearly 30% in the past week, she said Thursday.
In Zambia, where a vaccination campaign has stalled, authorities reported that the country is running out of bottled oxygen. Sick people whose symptoms are not severe are being turned away by hospitals in Lusaka, the capital.
“When we reached the hospital, we were told there was no bed space for her,” Jane Bwalya said of her 70-year-old grandmother. “They told us to manage the disease from home. So we just went back home, and we are trying to give her whatever medicine can reduce the symptoms.”
Uganda is likewise fighting a sharp rise in cases and is seeing an array of variants. Authorities report that the surge is infecting more people in their 20s and 30s.
Intensive care units in and around the capital, Kampala, are almost full, and Misaki Wayengera, a doctor who heads a committee advising Uganda’s government, said some patients are “praying for someone to pass on” so that they can get an ICU bed.
Many Ugandans feel hopeless when they see the astronomical medical bills of patients emerging from intensive care. Some have turned to concoctions of boiled herbs for protection. On social media, suggestions include lemongrass and small flowering plants. That has raised fears of poisoning.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni imposed new restrictions this month that included closing all schools. But he avoided the extreme lockdown measures of last year, saying he didn’t want to hurt people’s livelihoods in a country with a vast informal sector.
Also read: S Korea pledges $200mn to provide vaccines in lower-income countries
For beauticians, restaurant workers and vendors in crowded open-air markets struggling to put food on the table, the threat from COVID-19 may be high, but taking even a day off when sick is a hardship. Testing costs $22 to $65, prohibitive for the working class.
“Unless I am feeling very sick, I wouldn’t waste all my money to go and test for COVID,” said Aisha Mbabazi, a waiter in a restaurant just outside Kampala.
The 28-year-old had a scare weeks ago, she said, noting that a COVID-19 infection could cost her the job if her employer found out. But she has been unable to get a shot.
“I really wanted the vaccine because for us, any time you can get COVID,” she said. “Even just touching the menu.”
Dr. Ian Clarke, who founded a hospital in Uganda, said that while vaccine demand is growing among the previously hesitant, “the downside is that we do not know when, or from where, we will get the next batch” of shots.
Africa has recorded more than 5 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 135,000 deaths. That is a small fraction of the world’s caseload, but many fear the crisis could get much worse.
Nearly 90% of African countries are set to miss the global target of vaccinating 10% of their people by September, according to the World Health Organization.
One major problem is that COVAX, the U.N.-backed project to supply vaccine to poor corners of the world, is itself facing a serious shortage of vaccine.
Amid a global outcry over the gap between the haves and the have-nots, the U.S., Britain and the other Group of Seven wealthy nations agreed last week to share at least 1 billion doses with struggling countries over the next year, with deliveries starting in August.
Also read: UK to donate 100 mn coronavirus vaccine doses
In the meantime, many of the world’s poor wait and worry.
In Afghanistan, where a surge threatens to overwhelm a war-battered health system, 700,000 doses donated by China arrived over the weekend, and within hours, “people were fighting with each other to get to the front of the line,” said Health Ministry spokesman Dr. Ghulam Dastigir Nazari.
The vaccine rush is notable in a country where many question the reality of the virus and rarely wear masks or social distance, often mocking those who do.
At the end of May, approximately 600,000 Afghans had received at least one dose, or less than 2% of the population of 36 million. But the number of those fully vaccinated is minute — “so few I couldn’t even say any percentage,” according to Nazari.
In Haiti, hospitals are turning away patients as the country awaits its first shipment of vaccines. A major delivery via COVAX was delayed amid government concern over side effects and a lack of infrastructure to keep the doses properly refrigerated.
“I’m at risk every single day,” said Nacheline Nazon, a 22-year-old salesperson who takes a colorful, crowded bus known as a tap-tap to work at a clothing store in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, because that is all she can afford.
She said she wears a mask and washes her hands. If the vaccine becomes available, she said, “I’ll probably be the first one in line to get it.”
Dhaka calls for transparency in vaccine trade by US companies
Bangladesh Ambassador to the United States M. Shahidul Islam has called upon the US vaccine producing companies to exercise more openness and transparency in commercial export of vaccines to developing countries.
The Ambassador expressed hope to remain engaged with the US government and the private sector to secure adequate vaccines for the people of Bangladesh.
While appreciating US donation of vaccines to developing countries, the envoy opined that commercial procurement of vaccines will play a more important role in vaccinating a populous country like Bangladesh.
He was addressing a virtual town-hall discussion on Tuesday which was participated by officials of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, diplomats from the Embassy of Bangladesh in Washington DC, and representatives from various companies such as Uber, Chevron, General Electric, MetLife, Abbott, Boeing, PepsiCo, Google, Facebook.
President of the U.S.- Bangladesh Business Council Nisha Biswal delivered a welcome speech at the event.
Also read: Biotech's Covid vaccine to get conditional approval for human trials: BMRC
Covid-19 affected 60 million-plus domestic workers in informal economy: ILO
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated working conditions that were already very poor, and domestic workers were more vulnerable to the fallout from the pandemic because of long-standing gaps in labour and social protection, according to a new ILO report.
''This particularly affected the more than 60 million domestic workers in the informal economy,'' the report noted.
Ten years after the adoption of an historic International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention that confirmed their labour rights, domestic workers are still fighting for recognition as workers and essential service providers.
Working conditions for many have not improved in a decade and have been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the report.
Also read: ILO: Slow jobs recovery, increased inequality risk long-term COVID-19 scarring
At the height of the crisis, job losses among domestic workers ranged from 5-20 percent in most European countries, as well as Canada and South Africa. In the Americas, the situation was worse, with losses amounting to 25-50 percent. Over the same period, job losses among other employees were less than 15 percent in most countries.
Data in the report shows that the world’s 75.6 million domestic workers (4.5 percent of employees worldwide) have suffered significantly, which in turn has affected the households that rely on them to meet their daily care needs.
"The crisis has highlighted the urgent need to formalise domestic work to ensure their access to decent work, starting with the extension and implementation of labour and social security laws to all domestic workers," said ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder.
A decade ago the adoption of the landmark Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189) was hailed as a breakthrough for the tens of millions of domestic workers around the world – most of whom are women.
Also read: ILO, UNICEF record first increase in child labour in two decades
Since then there has been some progress – with a decrease of more than 16 percentage points in the number of domestic workers who are wholly excluded from the scope of labour laws and regulations.
Domestic work remains a female-dominated sector, employing 57.7 million women, who account for 76.2 percent of domestic workers. While women make up the majority of the workforce in Europe and Central Asia and in the Americas, men outnumber women in Arab States (63.4 percent) and North Africa, and make up just under half of all domestic workers in Southern Asia (42.6 percent).
The vast majority of domestic workers are employed in two regions. About half (38.3 million) can be found in Asia and the Pacific – largely on account of China – while another quarter (17.6 million) are in the Americas.
Bangladesh continues to report alarming Covid deaths
The Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh keeps worsening as 50 new deaths and 3,319 infections were recorded in 24 hours till 8 am Tuesday.
The positivity rate fell slightly to 14.27% on Tuesday from Monday’s 14.80%, said a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Bangladesh recorded more than 50 deaths on May 9 this year and over 3,000 cases on April 27.
With the new figures, the country’s death toll now stands at 13,222 while the caseload at 833,291.
During the period, the fatality rate remained static at 1.59%, shows the DGHS handout.
The fresh cases were detected after testing 23,265 samples during the period, while the country so far tested 6,218,979 samples.
As of now, 771,073 people have recovered from Covid infections, putting the country’s recovery rate at 92.53%.
Also read: RMCH sees 12 more Covid deaths in 24 hrs
Rajshahi and Khulna divisions recorded the highest 15 deaths today, while Dhaka and Chattogram divisions recorded six deaths each; Sylhet and Mymensingh divisions three deaths each and Barishal and Rangpur divisions one death each.
Vaccination Drive
Bangladesh, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 vaccination due to jab shortage amid a delay in the arrival of shipments from India.
Some 4,257,499 people got the second dose of this vaccine while the number is 58,20,015 for the first one.
Besides, the total number of people receiving their first jab of Chinese Sinopharm vaccine is 2,162.
Indefinite lockdown in Magura city and Mohammadpur Upazila from Sunday
Authorities announced an indefinite lockdown for Magura city and Mohammadpur Upazila effective from 6 pm Sunday amid a surge in the corona virus infections.
The announcement came from Magura Deputy Commissioner Dr Ashraful Alam and Mohammadpur Upazila Nirbahi Office on Sunday.
The decision came after 17 people tested positive with Covid-19 in 53 sample tests as of Sunday.
Also read: Covid pandemic: Situation in Bangladesh worsening, 47 more die
According to the announcement, all the public transport services except emergency ones will remain suspended during the period.
Besides, all shops and shopping malls were ordered to remain shut except food and medicine stores.
Also read: Second consignment of Sinopharm vaccine arrives
Until now 1326 Covid cases were detected in the district after 8357 sample tests, said Civil Surgeon Dr Shahidullah Dewan.
Also 24 Coronavirus related deaths were logged while 1,222 got cured of it.
Bangladesh loses 43 more lives to Covid-19, toll crosses 13,000
Covid-19 claimed 43 lives in Bangladesh in the past 24 hours until Friday morning as the upward march of the virus took the country's fatalities to 13,032.
The positivity rate which was 13.25% on Thursday – the highest in 46 days since April 25 this year – almost remained unchanged at 13.24%, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The country logged 2,454 new cases after testing 18,535 samples as the administration of the first dose of the vaccine remains suspended here since April 26.
The new number took Bangladesh's caseload to 822,849. However, the recovery rate and fatality rate remained unchanged at 92.59% and 1.58%.
Rajshahi division saw the highest fatalities during the period with the death of 11 people while Chattogram witnessed 10 deaths, Dhaka eight, Khulna seven, Rangpur four, Barishal two, and Mymensingh one.
Also read: Bangladesh to get over 10 lakh doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from COVAX: FM
Vaccination drive
So far, four vaccines – Oxford-AstraZeneca (Covishield), Sputnik-V, Sinopharm, and Pfizer-BioNTech – have got the approval for emergency use in Bangladesh.